


Encounters

by LokiOfSassgaard



Category: Big Nothing (2006)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-26
Updated: 2008-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-28 00:37:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6306904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LokiOfSassgaard/pseuds/LokiOfSassgaard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josie shows up at Gus' place not long after their one night stand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Encounters

Of course he'd fucked her. Three months out of Jean, and she was practically shoving her tits in his face; not something many women in his past experience ever really did. It hadn't taken him long at all to forget about what was no doubt a pubic hair on his plate and focus instead on the young, albeit maybe a bit air-headed waitress. He even stuck around until the end of her shift offered her a lift home, which he promptly wished he hadn't given the state of his barely-road legal truck. She eagerly accepted, guiding him to the run-down duplexes on the other side of the small, mountain town, whilst talking his ear off about whatever it was young women liked to talk about -- though he only listened hard enough to respond when needed. Taking over once parked, she invited him in, sparing no time in showing him to the bedroom.

 

Naturally, he wouldn't have even stayed around to flirt if he knew it was a school night; a fact he'd learned mere seconds before a m an he assumed to be Josie's father burst through the bedroom door.

It occurred to Gus, just before hitting the floor in an unconscious heap, that his one-night-stands had a habit of ending badly.

 

Gus quickly cleaned up, getting ready for bed. He looked at himself in the mirror, the bruise on his face only a shadow. That didn't stop it from still hurting, though. He was just lucky that the guy only decided to punch his lights out, and didn't press charges. No way in hell he'd be sent back to a minimum-security place after becoming a registered sex offender.

He stumbled back to the small bedroom, pulling off his shirt and tossing it at the canvas bag near the closet. As he changed out of his bluejeans and into a pair of sweats, a frantic pounding came from the front door. For a brief moment, Gus considered sneaking out the back, but quickly realized that if whoever was outside had wished him dead or arrested, they'd have busted in the door already.

He made his way to the front door -- and the relentless pounding -- hoping that someone just got a bit confused and was at the wrong house by mistake. He opened the door to find he was once again very wrong. And most people hated always being right.

"Josie, what are you doing here? Isn't it a school night?" he demanded as the girl pushed her way past him and into the house. Still jumpy from their previous encounter, Gus quickly checked the area to make sure no one saw her enter. "What-- How do you know where I live?"

Josie shrugged as she pushed her hair out of her face. "It's a small town," she pointed out. "You weren't so hard to find."

Gus pushed the door shut, stepping closer to Josie. "What are you doing here?" he repeated, emphasizing each word.

"Jose was being a dick, so I left. I needed some place to go."

There was nothing ensuring about the tone of Josie's voice. If anything, she sounded like Jose being a dick was a normal event. " Who's Jose?" Gus asked, completely unable to keep up. Oregon was definitely making him lose his edge.

The young blonde shrugged again. "My boyfriend?"

Gus took a moment to meditate on that sentiment. "Well, that certainly clears a few things up," he said, not entirely being honest. "Is there anything else you might have forgotten to mention?" he left her by the door, hoping to make it back to his bedroom before the night got any worse.

"Well, what are you going to do if he comes looking for me?" Josie asked innocently. Just got worse.

Gus sighed, returning to the front door to flip the latch of the deadbolt. "There," he said flatly. "Door's locked."

Josie looked puzzled, staring blankly at the door. "What if he kicks it in?" she asked.

Gus shrugged. "I'unno. Conk him on the head with a frying pan, or something."

"Don't you have a gun?"

Her less-than-thrilled host shook his head. "I don't like guns," he said, surprised at the ho nesty of the statement.

"Why?"

He stepped up within inches of Josie, moving as close to her as he felt comfortable when it came to minors that seemed hell-bent on sending him back to prison. "Have you ever had a gun aimed point blank at your face?" he asked, not realizing until after the words came out that his weariness with the entire situation was causing him to slip. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"No," Josie replied hesitantly. She wrapped her arms around her chest, stepping back slightly.

"Well, I have. And it's not a situation I ever care to find myself in again."

"What happened?" Josie asked, perhaps more eager than the situation called for.

Gus sighed heavily. "I was in a diner when it got held up," he made up quickly. "These Bonnie and Clyde hot shots weren't very happy with the service, or something."

"Oh, my god."

"Now," Gus said, baking away from his guest. "I'm going back to bed. Don't make a mess out here."

He qui ckly returned to his bedroom, shutting the door between himself and Josie. With the light off, he navigated to the twin-sized bed pressed up against the corner. Sighing as he pushed the cat out of the way, he made a mental note that he knew he wouldn't remember to tell Mark that the bathroom window needed to be fixed. He barely had time to settle in under the blankets when the door opened again as Josie let herself in. Without exchanging words between the two of them, Josie took off her own bluejeans and slowly tried to slide in under the blankets with Gus.

"You keep your hands to yourself, or you're sleeping on the couch," he warned. "Don't think I won't drag you back out there."

Josie sighed deeply, trying to figure out how to position herself on the small mattress without finding herself dumped on the torn-up sofa in the other room.

 

Josie woke up the next morning to find herself alone in the bed. Taking a moment to get herself oriented, she clim bed out of the mess of old quilts and cautiously made her way toward the living room, put off her guard upon finding the entire house empty. Even the cat that had taken a liking to her hair during the night was gone. Slowly making her way to the kitchen, she found a hand-written note on the counter.

 

"Lock up if you leave. Don't make a mess."

 

If. Josie hung on that word, as though it were the most obscene thing she'd ever seen. Not when. If.

"Well, shit," she said to herself, tossing the note back on the chipped counter.


End file.
